02 June 2006

Property Week

The difficulty of securing a mandate and the lack of a transparent trading exchange have been identified as two of the biggest barriers preventing investors entering the nascent property derivatives market.

The biggest champions of the property derivatives market are confident that the volume of trades will double to £2bn this year as banks and foreign hedge funds realise the benefits of investment in swaps.

Scottish Rugby and Commonwealth Games sporting heroes joined the Scottish stars of property in Glasgow for the Scottish Property Awards 2006. Scotland rugby captain and Calcutta Cup victor Jason White, a string of medallists and comedian Ed Byrne were the stars of the sixth Scottish Property Awards on 17 May. Miller was named Developer of the Year while Byrne and BBC sports presenters Dougie Donnelly and Hazel Irvine entertained. The event, at the Glasgow Hilton, also raised more than ...

Property Week’s annual survey of the UK’s top property services companies clearly shows the impact of the red hot investment market. As the good times continue to roll, respondents have reported an average increase in turnover of 16% since last year. How to continue the boom when the investment market cools off is the number one preoccupation for next year.

Ask Developments has revealed new images of its plan for its Central Spine site, which is being considered by the BBC in Manchester. The site, near the A57, is to host the 22 acre (8.9 ha) £850m Media Zone. Ask is seeking preferred developer status from the council.

Crest Nicholson has secured Cranmer House in Chertsey as its headquarters. The developer purchased the freehold of the 10-year-old, 23,000 sq ft (2,137 sq m) building from Henderson Global Investors for an undisclosed sum. DTZ acted for Henderson.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone today launched a campaign with business and trade union leaders to promote Crossrail, the underground rail system linking east and west London that is anticipated to cost £11bn to build

German fund manager Deka this week brought its building at 10 Stratton Street in Mayfair to the market with a guide price of £59m at a net initial yield of 4.25% as part of its disposal programme. The 41,000 sq ft (3,809 sq m) building is fully let to GVA Grimley until March 2015 at a rent of £64/sq ft (£688.90/sq m). Savills and CB Richard ...

Staffordshire's industrial market is hot. While down in the West Midlands you may struggle to assemble a site, further north in Staffordshire, land is plentiful and developers are quickly gaining planning permission to boost supply.

Sir, Your recent piece on advisers to charities (‘The goodies', professional + legal, 21.04.06), while well intentioned, confuses two important principles, which can work against one another if not clearly differentiated.

Terrace Hill has sold its 70,000 sq ft (6,503 sq m) office development in Swansea to private clients of GVA Grimley for £16.6m - a record low yield for Wales of 4.9%. The Welsh National Assembly has sublet the building to Admiral Insurance at £12.75/sq ft (£137.24/sq m). Lambert Smith Hampton and Knight ...

The London Borough of Redbridge this week began a search for a developer for the £100m Unity Square scheme in Ilford. The 4.2 acre (1.7 ha) site will have 500 homes, a town square, replacement theatre, and retail and leisure. Drivers Jonas is acting for the council.

The Odyssey Pavilion in Belfast, Northern Ireland's biggest leisure complex, is reportedly on the market for around £100m. Mar Properties founder Adam Armstrong is believed to be in advanced talks with Belfast-based Sheridan Group to buy the 200,000 sq ft (185,80 sq m) venue in the city's docklands. The complex's facilities include a 10,000 seat arena, cinemas, nightclubs, and pubs.

Property Week's campaign to clean up residential estate agency is gathering support from outside and inside the property industry. For too long unregulated, unqualified cowboys have been a stain on the property world. Now the industry itself needs to say ‘enough is enough'. Here are a selection of your letters of support for our campaign.